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Um...Why do we care about Belarus?
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Exult in your existence, because that very process has blundered unwittingly on its own negation. Only a small, local negation, to be sure: only one species, and only a minority of that species; but there lies hope. [...] Stand tall, Bipedal Ape. The shark may outswim you, the cheetah outrun you, the swift outfly you, the capuchin outclimb you, the elephant outpower you, the redwood outlast you. But you have the biggest gifts of all: the gift of understanding the ruthlessly cruel process that gave us all existence [and the] gift of revulsion against its implications.
-Richard Dawkins -
Because it may, or may not, demonstrate that "shock therapy" economic transition which many foreign advisors and institutions have [talked/tricked/forced/lied/advised/persuaded] former SU countries into were for many of them - a big mistake.Originally posted by Starchild
Um...Why do we care about Belarus?
Instead a more gradual transition of both economic and political institutions may have been more effective.
This of course depends froom country to country. Estonia was the most serious with "shock therapy" and it worked well for them. But Estonia is only pop: 1.5 million or so, compact and geographically close to two developed countries to which it has cultural resemblance. Their expirience thus doesn't prove that same policies were the right thing to do for everyone else in the ex SU.
Belarus' transition was/is among the slowest. Political institutions haven't transformed (Lukashenko is a bit of a dictator), and economy was slow to transform too. I don't know much about their economy though.Comment
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Not too much. Some can be fabricated, some are irrelevant, some are definitely true. You have to know which is whichOriginally posted by Bosh
And you actually believe the Belorussian's government's statistics?
For example, they can't lie about their foreign debt, it really is low.
The most interesting thing for me is:
- how well are people living there (UN HDI may be somewhat relevant there)
- how is transition progressing (I don't believe state owned economy and autocracy are sustainable in the long run)
Generally, comparing economic systems is interesting. I don't have time or will to really dive into it, but Belarus, being exception in many things, could provide interesting insights.Comment
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